


5+1 Ghastduggery

by trainwhistlesatnight



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Gen, M/M, Queerplatonic Relationships, also they're mainly queer platonic partners as i view them but ya know, rlly want them in there, they said bromance i said 'harold they're gay', which means i have 43859485 headcanons for them but ill try and just keep them out unless i rlly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-21 14:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15560130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trainwhistlesatnight/pseuds/trainwhistlesatnight
Summary: "Hey, if you're looking for fic prompts for Skulduggery Pleasant/Ghastly Bespoke bromance, you could maybe do a 5 +1 of Ghastly looking after Skulduggery then Skulduggery looking after Ghastly?"





	1. Sick

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request so if you like it hmu at train-whistles-at-night on tumblr!  
> Also please ask me about my headcanons i love my boys..............

"You know this wouldn't have happened if you'd just listened to Mum, Da and I." Ghastly said, pouring the boiled water into a small cup and handing it to Skulduggery. Skulduggery gave a sheepish smile.

"I know," he says, pulling the blankets more snug on his shoulders. "I thought I could find it before the storm started." Ghastly raised a brow.

"The storm started about five minutes after you went out, and you stayed out an hour after that, too. You didn't think that at all." Skulduggery takes a sip of his tea.

"Then I thought I wouldn't get sick."

"I think you're a terrible liar."

"I'm only good at so many th- gh- a- acHOO!" Skulduggery jolted from the sneeze, spilling at least half his cup of tea. He shook his head, "S-sorry.." He mumbled. He began to get up, but Ghastly made him sit back down.

"It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry, I'll get a rag and clean it up." He kept his hand on Skulduggery's shoulder for a moment. He cleared his throat, taking his hand away as Skulduggery relaxed and got a somewhat sleepy look on his face.

Skulduggery relaxed into the soft chair, pulling the blanket to wrap around his front. Ghastly came back, bending down and wiping at the spilled tea with the rag he brought. As he stood up he checked on Skul. He smiled at his sleepy look, his hair ruffled and still damp from the rain. 

He helped him finished the other half of his tea still in the cup, and got him another blanket. When Ghastly came back, he found Skulduggery had already fallen asleep in the time he was gone. He smiled and shook his head, rolling his eyes while putting the second blanket over his friend. He allowed himself a small 'I told you so' as he went to his room to read, letting his friend rest.


	2. Break Up

Ghastly held an arm around Skulduggery's shoulders as he cried. He rubbed circles on his back and gently shushed him. "It's alright, it's alright." He soothed. Skulduggery choked down a sob.

"I- I ju- I d- don't know wh- what I d-d- Gh-" he tried, and ended with him sobbing again, putting his head down. Ghastly frowned, hating to see his friend so upset.  
  
"It just.. It just wasn't working for you two. She wasn't happy, and you want her to be happy, don't you?"  
  
"Bu- but I w-w-want her to be happy with _ME_." He cried. Ghastly pulled him into a tight hug.  
  
"I know, I know... I know you do.." He rocked him gently, shushing and soothing. "This isn't the last relationship you'll ever have, it's just one of the first.." He hoped for a response, but Skulduggery only continued to cry, leaning into Ghastly's comforting touch.  
  
He realized words weren't going to work for a while, so Ghastly held and soothed and shushed best he could, letting Skulduggery get everything out.  
  
And when the evening came, and Skulduggery wasn't crying so hard, Ghastly made him laugh. Helped him remember this wasn't the end of the world, merely only that relationship and this day, and things weren't really all so bad.  
  
And if he got sad again, when he'd get sad again, Ghastly'd be right there just as he was this time.


	3. Can't Sleep

It is late, and it is quiet. Ghastly, small and simple, is in his bed, sleeping soundly. Somewhere in the back of his head, he hears a small tinkling sound and only pulls the blanket over his head in response.

  
He hears it again, louder this time, and wakes. He pulls the blanket off and glances to the window, jolting for a moment as he sees a face.

  
He calms after a moment, pulling the window open. It's Skulduggery.

  
"What're you doing here, it's the middle of the night?" He hasn't known Skul for long, but he does know sometimes Skul does strange things just to be strange. And because it feels right in his head.

  
"I couldn't sleep s-so I took a walk, but I dunno how to get home in the dark, and I'm tired and I just wanna sleep a-and your house was close by a-and-" his voice was getting wobbly, and Ghastly frowned and gently shushed him.

  
"It's alright. You.. You can sleep in my bed with me for tonight, and can go home when it's morn, okay?" Skulduggery nodded, and Ghastly helped him climb through the window.

  
They curled up close together, Ghastly pulling his blanket over them both best he could to make sure they were both warm.

  
They whispered conversations to each other back and forth for a while, until Skulduggery began to yawn, then Ghastly did too.

  
Sleep came to them both not long after, and it was wonderful. 


	4. Broken Bones

Skulduggery hissed and seethed, "ah, a-ah! It hurts, it HURTS!" he cried, hands shaking as he touched his right leg that was bent in the wrong direction. His head was dizzy and panicky and he was pretty sure he was crying. 

Ghastly ran up to him, having heard his cries, "wha- what's wr- Oh dear.." He said, finally catching sight of Skulduggery's very much broken leg. He bent down to Skulduggery's level, hia fingers just grazing the leg, and Skulduggery hollering out in pain.

"Gh- GHASTLY! IT HURTS!" He screeched. Ghastly shushed him, rooting through his pockets before finding a leaf. He pressed it to Skulduggery's mouth, shoving it in when he went to protest.

"Come on, chew on it. It'll nu,b the pain a little, I promise, I promise. We'll- we'll get you to a doctor or- or someone who can help. A witch, if nothing else." He went to Skulduggery's side, tucking his arms under him just so and hefting him up. Skulduggery let out a cry at the sudden movement, but held on to Ghastly nonetheless, terrified to be dropped and experience more pain from the broken limb. Ghastly shushed him gently, as Skulduggery was still crying, not even realizing it. He held on to Ghastly tight, arms wrapped around his neck and pushing his head into Ghastly's chest as he was carried.

-

Somewhere along the way, Skulduggery passed out- the leaf had worn off and Ghastly only had the one, and the pain raced back to Skulduggery all too soon, and he cried out with every jolt of movement until it overwhelmed him. Ghastly still shushed him gently as he brought him home, setting him on his bed and immediately setting to work, calling on his mum and asking her for help.

Setting the bone wasn't the most difficult process ever, but that was mainly because they'd gotten Skulduggery well past drunk, iced the broken spot, and at some point he passed out again (most likely from shock). 

There was a long while Skulduggery slept, and when he woke up, his leg was in a splint and he was exhausted. Ghastly was sat in a chair beside him, head down and arms crossed as he slept most uncomfortably. He reached out, just barely tapping on Ghastly's leg and startling him awake.

"H- huh? What, what is it? Are you alright?" He immediately fretted over Skulduggery, who gave him a tired grin.

"Leg's sore, throats dry, good otherwise... How long will I be in this splint?"

"They said anywhere from six to twelve weeks." Ghastly replied.

"Twelve weeks?! But- I- Ghastly I can't stay in this bed for twelve weeks."

" _Six to_ twelve weeks, if you keep off it and keep it level and stay hydrated it might not be twelve weeks." Ghastly explained, but nonetheless, Skulduggery groaned and flopped back, and Ghastly laughed and got him his water.


	5. Painting

"I have gotten a house." Skulduggery says one day, walking into the lobby of Bespoke Tailors. Ghastly pauses in his sewing, looks up at Skulduggery and raises a brow.

  
"You have?" Skulduggery nods.

  
"I have. I've been working on it for years now, it's surprising, almost, that no one would want to live in such a nice house."

  
"Really?"

  
"Yes, indeed."

  
"Then take me to your so lovely house."

  
And so Skulduggery did.

  
-

  
It was a nice house, really, it was. It was just that it was up on top of a hill behind two opposing funeral homes. Add a few bats flying out of Skulduggery's new home window at night and it was the perfect scene for a Halloween cartoon.

  
"So," Skulduggery said while getting out of the car, "what do you think?" Ghastly followed him up to the front door.

  
"Certainly.. Quiet." He said. They walked in.  
The whole house was empty, save for some painters tape, a small silver tin, and some paint buckets and paint brushes.

  
"You.. Have no furniture." Ghastly said.

  
"Yes." Skulduggery agreed. "I don't really need furniture, when I think about it. I don't need a bed. Maybe a couch for company, if I ever have any, and a chair for me to sit in. Otherwise I'd more than likely be fine." He explained, walking over to the paint cans and getting started. He handed Ghastly a paint brush.

  
They painted for a moment. "A desk might... Be in order." Ghastly said.

  
"What for?"

  
"Your files, something to write on that's not the floor?" Skulduggery turned his head to Ghastly, his skeleton grin seeming to widen for a moment.

  
"You're right, I would, wouldn't I? What would I ever do without you?"

  
"Have a sincerely poor taste in suits, mostly."

  
"Absolutely."

  
"What about if you do have company over?" Ghastly asked.

  
"Hm?"

  
"Company, more specifically any company that is not a skeleton, and even more specifically, company that needs to eat."

  
"You actually got less specific with each one of those. Most all of my company would probably be not-skeletons, and almost everything needs eat. At least, most every organic thing, and the world is filled with those and-"

  
"Skulduggery. I mean people. Friends. If they stay over. Blankets? Pillows? A fridge?"

  
"I don't really have many friends. But I could keep some blankets in one of the closets, if for no other reason than for the house to look a little less lonely. I don't need to eat, and the whole lacking friends thing would really just end up with me having spoiled and wasted food and paying for more electricity than is worth it." Ghastly shook his head, and continued painting.

  
Minutes turned into hours, and finally at least half the house was painted, there were small splatterings of paint on the two's clothing and blue painters tape on every conceivable place it was needed and also on some places it wasn't so needed.

  
They had joked and laughed and spoke for hours now, passing the time and not even noticing it in a way only best friends can do so. Ghastly put the brush down, admiring their work as he walked through the house, and frowned as he glanced out a window. The sun was falling, he checked it watch, it was evening. It was evening!

  
He walked back into the room he just exited, pointing at Skulduggery.

  
"You tricked me!"

  
"I did not..... What did I not trick you into doing, again?"

  
"Into helping you paint!"

  
"Oh, actually I really didn't with that one. I just started to paint and you joined in all on your own."

  
"You didn't tell me hours had passed!"

  
"I thought you were generally aware of the passage of time. That, or you just didn't mind."

  
"I do mind, Skulduggery."

  
"Well.." Skulduggery set his paint brush down. "We had fun at least, and got it done in at least half the time it would have taken me on my own." Ghastly sighed. He turned around, walking to the front room, then out of the house to his van, Skulduggery following suit.

  
There was silence for a moment, then Skulduggery turned to Ghastly.

  
"Thank you for helping today." He said. Ghastly smiled.

  
"No problem, now let's go home. Tomorrow we'll finish painting and get you some furniture." And with that, Ghastly started the engine.


	6. Fever

Ghastly is a hard worker, often staying up late and sometimes not eating enough. It is inevitable that he will get sick at least once through the year, and Skulduggery always takes care of him.

  
Ghastly chuckles as he is handed the bowl of chicken noodle soup, Skulduggery telling him as always to be careful- the soup is hot. He blows on it for a moment, cooling it before he takes a bite. When he swallows, he laughs.

  
"I can't believe soup is the only thing you can 'cook', you burn practically everything else-"

  
"Even water." Skulduggery finishes, shaking his head, and Ghastly's shoulders shake with his laughter.

  
Not long into eating, Ghastly's hands decide they won't hold the bowl or spoon without shaking anymore, so he hands it to Skukduggery, who feeds him.

  
Ghastly's mind clouds over a bit, it is a fever. So Skulduggery asks him questions, even though he already knows the answers to most of them.

  
He tells him stories that make Ghastly laugh, of Ghastly, him, the deadmen, Valkyrie, the list goes on, and it keeps Ghastly laughing his raspy laugh until his throat hurts, his belly is full, and the soup is gone.

  
When Ghastly's eyes begin to close on their own, sleep taking over his mind, Skulduggery helps him lay back. He adjusts the pillows and pulls a blanket over Ghastly. Keeps water on the bedside table for him and a snack bar.

  
Before he leaves to meditate, Skulduggery does one more once-over to make sure Ghastly will be fine, and when he has deemed the room fit, he presses the teeth of his skull against Ghastly's temple in a quick kiss, and exits the room, turning the lights off and shutting the door on his way out.


End file.
